Bishop Ward died 1838 and is buried at Gt Horkesley; his wife died
1841 and is buried with him.
When Bishop Ward first arrived in the island he very soon
felt persuaded that the immediate work he must undertake was the
rebuilding of the old, dilapidated Parish Churches and the
building of new. He found the population of the island to be
50,000, and Church room only for about 9,000. In the town of
Douglas, 7,000 population, Church room for about 1,300, and no
free seats, so the 4,000 poor were virtually excluded. This great
evil must be remedied at once, but how? The Bishop was not long in
devising means procrastination was a word unknown in his
vocabulary. He first applied to the Commissioners for Building
Churches, and to the Society for the Enlargement of Churches, but
the Isle of Man was found to be not within the rules of the former
nor the charter of the latter.
An appeal, therefore, to the British public was inevitable. He,
however, did not send it broadcast over the country, as is the
custom of these days; he sent it to his own friends, and those
friends zealously transmitted it to others, so it became widely
spread But one of the great means of obtaining the large sums he
did was by the missionary exertions of the' apostolic Rev Hugh
Stowell, Rector of Ballaugh, who at the Bishop's suggestion
readily went forth, travelling through England, cordially received
by the Bishop's friends, and was most successful in touching the
hearts and opening the purses of many. The Bishop writes from
Bishopscourt, Dec. 19, 1828: " I must go beyond the shores of the
Isle of Man for means to build Churches, and I trust God will
bless and prosper the man of God in the mission on which I am
about to send him. Mr. Stowell is truly a man of God, one of the
few which remain of the genuine Wilson school. He will come up to
the highest idea you have formed of the simplicity, gentleness
humility, meekness and sincerity of primitive Christians,
possessing not much knowledge of this world but rich in the
knowledge and temper of the blessed world to come, an orthodox
sound Churchman of the old school. May God bless and reward all
those who will take him by the hand and forward his pious objects.
God will bless and reward them, the mouth of Christ has spoken it,
" He that receiveth a Prophet in the name of a Prophet shall
receive a Prophet's reward." Soon after this the Bishop was
himself called to England by the severe affliction of the death of
his eldest son at Cambridge. His solace was that by being
unexpectedly himself in England he could further the cause he had
at heart. He stayed for a time with his friend and former pupil
Lord Ripon, who was then in the ministry, and from Pembroke House
much was done towards swelling the subscription list. This was in
April 1829.
About the year 1832 the appeal fell into the hands of a rich
and good man, Mr Gordon of Wandsworth Common. The Bishop, who was
then in England, soon became acquainted with him. He began by
giving his fifties, then his hundreds, and ended by giving his
thousands! St.
Barnabas' Church in Douglas was one greatly benefited by him.
This was the Church the Bishop was most anxious to see rapidly
completed, as church room in Douglas was so greatly needed. As
soon as it was consecrated and opened it was filled with an
overflowing congregation, the Rev. Wm. Carpenter being the first
Minister, and a most zealous Pastor In 1838 the Bishop went to
England to consult Mr Alexander the Oculist, one eye being quite
dark and the other failing. By this time the Parish Churches of
Ballaugh and Onchan, and S. Barnabas, in the town of Douglas, were
consecrated and filled with good and grateful congregations.
The Parish Churches of Lezayre and Lonan were nearly completed;
the College was opened, but the Chapel not yet consecrated, owing
to some legal difficulties. The first stone of Kirk Michael Parish
Church was laid, and everything in a fair way for the work to
proceed. In England his persevering efforts for the good of his
diocese were unremitted. He obtained nearly £l,000 of the
Government grant for building schoolrooms. To plant schoolrooms
and chapels in the mountain districts was his great desire. Here
was the money for the schoolrooms, but schoolrooms without
churches would not content him. How to get the means of building
the churches But he " did not suffer his eyes to sleep nor the
temples of his head to take any rest" till he had found out the
ways and means; and one morning on coming down to breakfast, he
told us with a glowing countenance of how in the night he had
planned a scheme of annexing a small chapel with sliding doors
opening into the schoolroom, which would thus admit a large
congregation, and the sacred Offices to be still all performed in
a consecrated spot. These little annexed chapels would cost but
little, and his great objective would be accomplished of bringing
the House of prayer within reach of these poor mountaineers.
Baldwin was the first of these Mountain Valleys in which these
ideas and hopes were to be realised. On Wednesday, the 17th of
November, 1834, the Bishop, with his son and one of his daughters,
visited Baldwin for the purpose of fixing upon the site of the
Chapel and Schoolroom. The visit shall be described in the words
of the daughter who was with him, taken from her journal written
at the time." On Wednesday, November 17th, we left Douglas at 12
o'clock, and reached Baldwin in about an hour, is we attained the
last rising ground before reaching the Glen, the view was most
lovely. A mountain stream, bright as silver, winds in a
beautifully serpentine form through a quiet glen, in which a
little village is surrounded almost entirely by the mountains,
which are thrown together towards the North in a peculiarly
beautiful manner, and the clouds just beginning to break, and the
blue sky appear as they partially vanished mellowed the tints upon
the hills beyond description, and varied them every moment. The
scene was lovely. On arriving at the village, we left the carriage
and joined some gentlemen who were come to meet the Bishop. We
walked across the rough broken bridge, and ascended the hill. The
first thing to be visited was the ancient site of a Chapel still
preserved inviolate, and the foundations visible. It is about half
a mile from the village. Beyond it, I was taken to see the old
Tynwald Mount, on which, till within the last two hundred years,
the Laws of the Island were promulgated. It is a most commanding
position, from which Douglas Head and the spire of St. Barnabas'
Church is visible. To the left are a few scattered mountain
dwellings, and below, though not seen, the Glen and Valley of East
Baldwin, behind is a vast extent of mountains, which seem to
forbid the dwellings of mankind, but far into them, we were
informed, are many houses to be found, perhaps a hundred
inhabitants, between the spot where we stood and the end of the
parish, almost to the foot of Pennypot. There were two other sites
viewed as likely to be more favourable for the new Chapel, and the
point was left undecided. There was found to be a strong feeling
in the village for having it on the old consecrated spot." This
then was the Bishop's first sight of this wonderfully interesting
spot, which fired all the best feelings of his ardent nature, and
quickened his zeal to overcome all obstacles, and plant his
favourite scheme of combined schoolroom and chapel, not only in
Baldwin but in all the mountain villages. The ancient site was
finally decided upon. Mrs. Ward s journal gives the account of the
happy day, when the Bishop laid the first stone of the little
Chapel. " On we left Castle Mona in Douglas for Baldwin. The
carriage could only go to the foot of the ascent; there the Bishop
mounted his black pony, the people carrying flags and banners
before and after him; I followed in a gig and my two daughters
walking at the head of the peasantry, all made the most
picturesque procession up the hill through this beautiful valley.
The Bishop rode to Mr. Frere's house, there robed and proceeded to
walk in a blustering wind, to the appointed spot. An anxious
assembly awaited his arrival, and the ceremony of laying the
stone, with the usual prayers, took place. The numberless heads
and various countenances leaning over a bank just above the
Bishop's head, and listening most attentively to the Bishop's
voice, was a curious and interesting sight. All was harmony and
pleasure and all has proceeded rapidly and successfully. The
people have given their labour and helped on the work most
willingly as far as they could. There are seventy families in
these Glens and round this new building, ready to attend public
worship there, and consequently plenty of children to fill the
school, of which the Clergyman to be appointed, will take the
superintendence, and we trust will feed the flock with Divine
Instruction suited to them." On May 14th, 1836, the Bishop
consecrated the Chapel.
Born
19 September 1762 at Saintfield, near Belfast. In Feb 1782 went to
London as a teacher and was ordained deacon in 1788 and presumably
priested in 1789 as appointed to Mayfair chapel that year. Had come
to notice of Bishop Porteous who put him forward as tutor to sons of
widowed Duchess of Gloucester, the younger of whom, Lord Goderich
later Earl of Ripon, was briefly Prime Minister Aug 1827-Jan 1828. In
1798 appointed vicar of Myland, Colchester; married Anne Hammersley
in 1805 by whom had 2 sons and five daughters (eldest daughter died
in 1828; eldest son died whilst a student in 1829; a younger daughter
had died as an infant). Became Rector of Great Horkesley, Essex in
1818 from where he was appointed Bishop in 1828 though he kept his
living at Great Horkesley and divided his time between there and the
Island. The Earl of
Ripon states that the post, which had just become a crown
appointment was initially offered to Rev J.B. Sumner (Bishop of
Chester 1828-48 then Archbishop of Canterbury) but on his refusal
offered to Ward.